According to the data from the Otodom portal, after the drastic decline in the availability of flats for rent, related to the influx of refugees from Ukraine to Poland, the market has rebounded from the bottom. For the first time in 3 months, the number of rentals offers has increased.
Several factors contributed to the increase in rental housing offers. First of all, the demand calmed down and the number of available offers increased. Otodom analysts predict that at the end of the academic year, the number of offers will increase again, but it will not be as large as in previous years.
In May, 3.100 new offers were added (an increase of 35%) compared to April. This shows that the supply in the rental market is increasing. However, the number of new offers is still much lower than in the same period in 2021 by almost 38%.
In May, the availability of rental offers increased in all large cities compared to April. The biggest hike – from 25 to almost 30% happened in Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź and Rzeszów. In Poznań and Warsaw, the availability of flats for rent increased by 18%, compared to the previous month.
In annual terms, the number of offers of apartments for rent is lower than last year. The biggest difference was recorded in Łódź and Kraków, where in May there were over 70% fewer offers than a year ago. In Warsaw, Wrocław and Rzeszów the number of offers is lower by about 60%, and in Gdańsk by over 53%.
Average offer prices of flats for rent in May this year increased in almost all cities (from 1.1% in Wrocław to 7% in Gdańsk and 8.5% in Rzeszów). The exception is Warsaw, where this rate is -5.8%, but this difference is due to the fact that the characteristics of the available offers have changed. The number of large and more expensive apartments above 80 square meters is decreasing, and they are replaced by small and medium-sized apartments, which are cheaper.
Investments in housing for rent still remain profitable, although with rising loan costs their profitability decreases. “At the same time, rising interest rates and shrinking creditworthiness may force people who have so far been looking for flats for sale to choose a flat to rent”, Otodom experts predict.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński